Soccer Stars and Sunstroke

My face is as red as a cherry tomato.

Well, since we’re talking about Old Chubby here, I guess “as red as a regular tomato” is just as appropriate.

Hot, hot, and more hot! We spent all day Sunday sunning ourselves in the extreme heat at Gary’s Heilman Family Reunion in Freeport.

Don’t get me wrong. It was a lot of fun. It was just so unbelievably hot. I think I actually got sunstroke.

It was nice to see Gary’s family, especially Camille (Gary’s daughter) and her family. Camille’s husband Dave is a firefighter, so (as always) he had some great stories to tell us. We also got to play lawn golf (photos to be posted on mom’s site soon) with my amazingly talented niece Brigitte and nephew Andrew.

Andrew is going to be ten, and Brigitte just celebrated the big number “5” recently. I can’t believe how fast they are growing up. Camille had just given birth to Brigitte a month or so before Mom and Gary got married.

Friday and Saturday were unexpectedly busy. We had a surprise visit by Brett’s brother Bill and his family. Their youngest son, Steven, a budding soccer star, had a seating tournament in Rockford.

Steven is on the fast track to being the next David Beckham. He’s already been selected to be on the Olympic Development Team at the state level. If he survives the cuts, he could move on the regional level, and then eventually on to the US Olympic team.

And he’s only 13!

The five of us had dinner Friday night at Lonestar. I asked Steven what he plans to do if he becomes a soccer superstar. He told me that I could visit him in his mansion whenever I wanted (he wasn’t sure about Uncle Brett), and he said he would sign autographs for all my friends.

His mom and dad asked him what he wanted to have in his mansion. He said a pool table, foosball table, and one 72 inch plasma TV. When we asked him what he planned to do for his parents, he said they could live with him, but they would have to do all his grocery shopping!

Bill, my brother-in-law, asked what car he would buy his parents, since Steven kept talking about “his” new Mercedes and Mustang. “Oh, you guys could drive a new Loser Cruiser,” he said, referring to his parents’ mini-van outside.

Too funny!

We also got to see our superstar in action. We caught one of his games at Sportscore Two and saw his amazing potential.

He really is THAT good. But Sally, my sister-in-law, says he eats, breathes, and lives soccer. “If he’s not sleeping, he’s practicing or at a game,” she told us.

For his “down” time, she said he plays virtual reality soccer! Crazy!

So, we were able to attend a game on Saturday with a field trip to Volcano Falls, so Steven could try out their soccer cages. We eventually ended up back at the hotel where an exhausted Steven fell into bed (six games in two days will do that to you).

The four adults then adjourned to the hotel lobby where we played Sequence until the wee hours! We had such a good time!

That, plus the fun on Sunday, almost makes up for my cherry tomato sunburned face.

Almost!